Ex-worker claimed sex discrimination

Published
12:00 am CST, Thursday, December 19, 2013

EDWARDSVILLE — A $487,500 payment approved by the Madison County Board was to a former employee, Mary B. Parker, who claimed she received less than a man doing the same work and that she was unfairly discharged when she complained.

In 2001, Parker was offered a position of youth advocate for the truant alternative program funded by a grant, in the Regional Office of Education, at $12.67 per hour. Brian McGivern was hired in 2004 as a youth advocate for $21.26 per hour; Parker’s pay eventually rose to $16.32 per hour.

She also claimed she lost her job because she complained to Regional Superintendent Bob Daiber about the situation, according to a court document obtained by The Telegraph.

Parker also filed an additional charge based on retaliation in 2009. The grant funding the truant program was discontinued, and Parker was terminated. However, once the grant was renewed, McGivern was hired, but not Parker.

Parker approached Daiber about the difference in 2007.

“Dr. Daiber told plaintiff that if she did not like the situation, she could go find another job,” the document states.

Parker then filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2008. The EEOC is a federal agency that seeks to settle disputes over discrimination. The case was not settled by the EEOC, so it ended up in federal court.

The case went to trial in federal court about one year ago, and the county prevailed on the gender discrimination claims but lost on the claim of retaliatory discharge.

The jury awarded Parker $100,000 on the discharge count, but Federal Circuit Judge David Herndon also added damages for back pay and pay she may have received had she continued her employment. Her attorney, Shari Rhode of Carbondale, also asked for $317,000 in fees on top of the damages.

The exact amount of money for damages and for attorney’s fees was not immediately available, but the county agreed to settle the case as a result of negotiations on the appellate court level. One of the county’s attorneys, John Gilbert, said the case then was submitted to mandatory settlement negotiations before the U.S. Seventh Circuit Appellate Court.

As a result of the negotiations, the parties settled on the $487,500 figure. Gilbert declined to say what the cost might have been in the absence of a settlement.

“Both parties are satisfied with the settlement,” he said.

In one of several documents on file in the case, Herndon denied the county’s motion for summary judgment in August 2011.

Herndon said in his order that there was no evidence that Daiber intended to discriminate and “had every desire and wish to treat the plaintiff fairly and consistent with the treatment given other employees.” However, the judge denied the motion for summary judgment because the county’s motion was not enough on a legal basis to convince him to allow the motion.

However, the judge pointed out that McGivern had a bachelor’s degree, plus 59 hours toward his master’s degree. Parker had an associate’s degree and was working on a bachelor’s degree. Parker was also receiving education benefits, in the form of tuition at McKendree College, for a total of $40,000.

The Madison County Board approved the settlement payment at its regular meeting Wednesday. County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan said he could not discuss the case except in closed session. No board member asked for a closed session.